All posts in category Mechanics

Today I’d like to address an issue brought up by one of my patrons: what do you do when a mechanic doesn’t work out? Do you have to scrap the whole project, or are there measures you can take to salvage some of it? All designers are familiar with this topic, often with sad associations. […]

Early in the Shadow Throne Kickstarter, a backer asked if I had any fun stories about cards that didn’t make the cut. I’m finally getting around to it… four months after the Kickstarter finished. Better late than never, right? Between the initial conception for Shadow Throne and when it funded on Kickstarter, I worked on a […]

The Kickstarter for Shadow Throne, Nothing Sacred Games’ next big release, is right around the corner! Over the next several months, you’ll be learning a lot about the game and its development. To kick things off, I thought I’d spend a little time describing the design goals that helped inspire and guide the development of […]

One of the fundamental questions in game design is: which came first, the theme or the mechanics? Different designers have different answers to this question, some holding their answers as sacred as scripture. While I don’t have strong feelings on this question (I have been inspired by both themes and mechanics), I tend to lean […]

I’ve been thinking a lot about drafting lately. So today I thought I’d try something new: a close analysis of drafting as a mechanic. To start, I’ll define drafting and explain the different forms it takes. After that I’ll discuss what it adds to games. To wrap things up, I’ll cover the requirements of including […]